'Kinky Boots' Edges 'Matilda' for Tony Glory

Diane Paulus, Pam MacKinnon Sweep Director Categories

The 67th Tony Awards will be remembered for the close race for Best Musical—between the winner, "Kinky Boots," and "Matilda: The Musical"—and, more important, as a major night for women in theater. Pia Catton has details. Photo: AP.

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The 67th Tony Awards will be remembered for the close race for Best Musical—between the winner, "Kinky Boots," and "Matilda: The Musical"—and, more important, as a major night for women and for diversity in theater.

Actress Judith Light accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for "The Assembled Parties."
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Courtney B. Vance accepts the award for best featured actor in a play for "Lucky Guy."
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Women swept both directorial categories Sunday night at Radio

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Singer Cyndi Lauper enters the stage to accept the award for Best Original Score.
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The cast of "Matilda The Musical"
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The cast of 'Kinky Boots' performs onstage.

City Music Hall, with Pam MacKinnon winning for her direction of the revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and Diane Paulus triumphing for her direction of the revival of the musical "Pippin." Ms. Paulus is the third woman ever to win Best Director of a Musical, and Ms. MacKinnon is the fourth to win Best Director of a Play.

"We're hitting our stride," said Ms. MacKinnon of female directors.

Two of the six awards bestowed upon "Kinky Boots" went to pop star Cyndi Lauper, who won for Best Score, and star Billy Porter, who was named the Best Actor in a Musical. "I share this award," Mr. Porter said from the stage, "but I'll keep it at my house."

The musical, Ms. Lauper's Broadway debut, tells the story of a struggling English shoe business that finds a new market by making stiletto boots for drag queens. "Kinky Boots" also won for Best Choreography, created by its director, Jerry Mitchell. "I knew that I had to hire dancers who were comfortable in high heels," Mr. Mitchell joked.

"Matilda," produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers for Broadway, was a huge success in London, and repeated much of that success on Broadway, with 12 nominations. Early in the evening, Tony voters split some of the awards for musicals between "Matilda" and the sexier, American-made "Kinky Boots." "Matilda" won for Scenic Design, Lighting Design, Book of a Musical and Featured Actor, for Gabriel Ebert. But in the end, "Kinky Boots" pulled an upset over the early season favorite by winning six awards, including the big one: Best Musical.

The "Matilda" win for Lighting Design, by Hugh Vanstone, gave the awards show an added moment of humor, as the three other nominees were all one man—Kenneth Posner, for his lighting of "Kinky Boots," "Pippin" and "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella." Mr. Vanstone may have been convinced that the odds were against him: He was not in attendance.

"Pippin" scored Tonys for Best Revival, leading actress Patina Miller, and featured actress Andrea Martin. Ms. Martin's performance has been a hit of the season; she reinvented the role of the grandmother in "Pippin," swinging from a fixed trapeze while wearing a costume that could be considered skimpy for a 66-year-old. "I wanted to play the grandmother the way I feel," she said.

Best Actress in a Play went to 79-year-old Cicely Tyson, for "The Trip to Bountiful."

The award for Best Play went to "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," Christopher Durang's bittersweet comedy about a Russian-American family in Bucks County, Pa. "Vanya" emerged from a tough category that included "The Testament of Mary," "The Assembled Parties," and Nora Ephron's final work, "Lucky Guy," starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut.

Mr. Hanks did not win the award for Best Actor in a Play, however—that went to Tracy Letts, for his role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." "Virginia," a project that originated with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, also won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play. After the ceremony, Mr. Letts emphasized his commitment to the Windy City: "I am a Chicago artist who occasionally exhibits in New York."

"The Nance," starring Nathan Lane, was not nominated for Best Play, but it did rack up Tonys for Costume Design of a Play, Sound Design and Set Design.

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